I don't know what he is on about. I got a TON of Z-Wave stuff from RadioShack when they decided they didn't want to carry it any more. 3-way switches, regular switches, outlet replacements, remote controls and plug in adapters. I bought a ZWave stick separately.
Now, 90% of my light switches are Z-Wave controlled. Sockets in the wall that previously had no way to control except for going over and pulling the string on the lamp I have a handy remote for. I can walk into a room and press the light switch, if I leave without turning it off I don't have to get up (remote control). I have the bedside light turn on every workday to get me up as an alarm. I can control my lights through the internet if need be (rare, geek cred only). I use it to turn on my Slow Cooker so it cooks for 8 hours on low, if I get delayed at work I just change the turn on time. I'm still working on connecting IFTTT to send me an email which I parse as it comes in when I enter an area so it turns on the porch light if it is dark outside when I come home, but that is more a time issue than anything else. I also use it to turn on a fan when I am on my bicycle trainer so it isn't on when i'm warming up and I don't have to stop once I do. It works well enough that I didn't even have to give my girlfriend any explanation, she pressed the buttons , saw what lights came on, and done.